EXHIBIT B Reprinted with permission Painting by Hamilton County 4-H member displayed in Washington By Melissa Warren, May 22, 1999 DANVILLE - Sketch artist Juan Hernandez's first drawing was a big house he penciled in sixth grade. Now his favorite subjects are fancy script letters. But he does not like to paint. In fact, the 15-year-old Danville Junior High School student has painted only one picture his entire life. One the sides of the canvas are two roses below two daisies; in the middle, a ring of human figures surrounds the 4-H insignia. Although it's a simple design, the painting has garnered national recognition, in a sense. Hernandez's creation is one of 217 paintings from 41 states hanging on a construction fence around the U.S. Conservatory and future National Garden site in Washington D.C. The exhibit of botanical art, called "Kids View of the Plants," demonstrates how the country's youths use plants and gardening as tools for education. The paintings will be displayed until March 15, 2000. Hernandez is a member of the Hamilton 4-H Friends Club, a group of about 65 youths ages 8 to 19 who come from Danville's Asian, African, Caucasian and Hispanic communities. He was asked to be the club's representative in the painting project. "Juan has kind of stood out in the group as one of the kids with a lot of artistic talents," said Trisha Dupont, bilingual program assistant for the University of Minnesota Extension Service in Hamilton County. "The interesting thing is that most of his drawings are done in pencil…It was a learning experience for him, too." Hernandez, who speaks limited English, moved to Danville, three years ago from his home in rural Guadalajara, Mexico, a city of more than 1.6 million people. Large gardens are common where Hernandez grew up. His own family raised corn, tomatoes, beans and carrots on a garden larger than a football field. Such gardens are far less common in the United States, so Hernandez and other Hamilton 4-H Friends Club members now tend to 16-square-foot plots at the community gardens on the Minnesota Southwestern Community College campus. Every Friday, they gather from 3:30 to 5 p.m. to hoe weeds, water tomatoes and help their crops grow any way they can. "Most of them are more limited now in a place to grow things than they were in their home countries," Dupont said. "For the kids in the Hamilton 4-H Friends group, it was a chance for them to do something that's common to everyone." With a little design advice from Dupont, Hernandez transferred his artistic talents and love of gardening onto canvas. Unaware that the painting would be used for any specific display, he was both surprised and proud to learn it would hang in the nation's capital. When passerby see his painting, Hernandez hopes they get his intended message: "to send their kids to 4-H…so they can have a better future." Main Menu | Teaching Note | Decision Case | Exhibit A | Exhibit B |
